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Eco Heroes Teacher Guide ECO HEROES TEACHER GUIDE Introduction Who inspires you to be a hero for our planet? Throughout history, people of all backgrounds and cultures have proven through their actions that we truly can make a difference for the environment. And, a healthier environment goes hand and hand with a healthier and more just society! In this lesson, students will learn about a handful of amazing players in a variety of environmental and social justice movements, then research and create a presentation about someone who inspires them. Materials Standards ECO Heroes Presentation NGSS ECO Heroes Worksheet, print or digital K-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity Pencil Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, Computer and internet access water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment. Additional books, documentaries, journal articles (optional) 5-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity Lesson Length Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment. 30-60 minutes, asynchronously or combination Social Science Social Science Analysis 5.26 A note on this lesson Gather, assess, and use information from multiple primary and secondary sources (such as print, electronic, interviews, speeches, images) to examine This lesson is to be used as a jumping off an event, issue, or problem through inquiry and research. point and is by no means a comprehensive study of environmental Historical Thinking 5.24 heroes in history! There are many Explain why individuals and groups, including ethnic and religious groups, directions to take this lesson, so we are and traditionally marginalized groups during the same historical period including a handful of options for differed in their perspectives of events. educators to choose from, depending on the grade level of the students and the Geography 5.11 depth you’d like to go. Describe how physical, human and political features influence events, movements, and adaptation to the environment. This lesson can be divided into multiple parts over the course of days, or done as Geography HS.50 a short introduction to the history of Determine the influence of long-term climate change and variability on environmental movements. It may be human migration, settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local- completed synchronously or to-global scales. asynchronously, or a combination of the two. Note that many terms may be advanced for elementary students, so it may be helpful to present synchronously for K-5 students to ensure you can break down terms or provide definitions as you go along. 1 © 2020 Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors. All Rights Reserved. ECO HEROES TEACHER GUIDE Lesson Procedure 1. ECO HEROES PRESENTATION Xiuhtezcatl Martinez: Colorado-based Indigenous and Latinx hip-hop artist, writer, and activist, youth director of Earth Shown as a class or assigned to students to read through on Guardians and one of 21 plaintiffs in the Juliana vs. US lawsuit. their own, the presentation ECO Heroes includes information Resources: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (website), 'I love calling out about seven diverse people or groups who have made a politicians': meet the student suing Trump over climate change difference in their communities and the world around them. (web article), Xiuhtezcatl, Indigenous Climate Activist at the Slides are arranged with one introductory slide and a following High-level event on Climate Change (video) slide with additional resources on the person or group. The Water Protectors: group of activists who come from a The ECO Heroes we selected for their contributions to the variety of tribal nations and unite with the common belief that environment and their communities include: water is sacred; famously demonstrated in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline fight at Standing Rock starting in April Rachel Carson: scientist who wrote Silent Spring in 1962 2016. Resources: Meet Autumn Peltier: 15-year-old calling out the use of toxic synthetic pesticides, sparking the internationally recognized clean… (web article), We Are Water environmental movement of the 1960s and the creation of the Protectors by Carole Lindstrom READ ALOUD ~RING Environmental Protection Agency. Resources: Rachel Carson, AROUND RONINA~ (video read-aloud book), Standing Rock The Life and Legacy (website), How one scientist took on the activists: Don't call us protesters. We're water protectors (web chemical industry - Mark Lytle (short video), Chapter 1 | article) Rachel Carson | American Experience | PBS (in-depth video, chapter one from a full-length documentary) 2. ACTIVITY OPTIONS César E. Chávez: Latino American activist, who created the K-5 students: National Farm Workers Association in one of the most 1.Have students use the ECO Heroes Worksheet to prominent case studies for environmental justice. Resources: complete a short research project on a hero of their choice The Story of Cesar Chavez – UFW (website) , Cesar Chavez: in the presentation. American Civil Rights Activist - Fast Facts | History (short 2.Have students prepare a short presentation in which they video) share what they’ve learned, either using an online presentation platform or by creating a poster and sharing a Wangari Maathai: Kenyan social, environmental, and political photo of their poster. activist and founder of the Green Belt Movement that gave 3.Have students draw themselves as an “ECO Hero”. For this rural women jobs and planted millions of trees globally. activity, students will draw a person with exaggerated Resources: The Green Belt Movement (website), Wangari features that represent characteristics of themselves as a Maathai - Biographical - NobelPrize.org (website), Wangari’s hero to the environment. For example, they may add a Trees of Peace (video read-aloud book) large green heart, to represent a love of nature. Or, they may add question marks in their head, to represent Nancy Russell: founder of the Friends of the Gorge and curiosity, a large smile because they are kind, strong naturalist who eventually helped establish the Columbia River muscles to carry heavy problems, etc. They may also add Gorge as a National Scenic Area. Resources: History of Friends features to represent the actions of an ECO hero, such as of the Columbia Gorge (website), Oregon Live Article (web them growing a garden, saying “no” to plastic utensils, article) using a microscope to conduct an experiment, or carrying a sign to show support for a movement. This is an Greta Thunberg: Swedish teenager leading the School Strikes opportunity to be creative! for Climate that have gained momentum across the globe. Resources: Greta Thunberg: TIME's Person of the Year 2019 | Time (web article), Greta Thunberg Is Leading a Global Climate Movement (short video) 2 © 2020 Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors. All Rights Reserved. ECO HEROES TEACHER GUIDE Lesson Procedure, cont. Middle school students: 3. SHARE 1.Select three or more ECO Heroes from the presentation to have students learn about in-depth by reading their Invite students to share their work in a way that works for introductory slide and engaging with the additional your class, and discuss how learning about ECO Heroes resources on the following slide. Then, have students influenced their way of thinking about environmental and select one of the heroes to focus on by filling out the ECO social justice. Heroes Worksheet for that person. Have students turn in their worksheet or share their findings with the class. Sharing suggestions include: uploading posters or worksheets 2.Have students create an action plan for how they will in a gallery on Google Slides, SeeSaw, or other platforms; become a hero for a cause they personally care about. For sharing posters, presentations, or worksheets live during a example, if their cause is solving plastic pollution, have Zoom session; writing reports and sending them to classmates them think about steps they must take to accomplish this for peer review. goal. Will they need a certain type of experience? Will they need to learn about politics and government, or do scientific research? Will they need to activate other people to help them along the way? What challenges will they have to overcome? High school students: 1.Take an in-depth look at each ECO Hero from the presentation by reading their introductory slide and engaging with the additional resources on the following slide. Then, have students select one from the list or another of their choosing and conduct a longer research project on that subject (assignments include write a written report, write a journalistic article, create a presentation, etc). a.Some categories students may look to find heroes in: marine biology/ocean conservation, climate change research, animal welfare/animal rights, agriculture/food systems, Indigenous rights b.Some questions to get students going: how did this group or person influence society around them? What might this person or group’s bias be, and how might their biases influence their own actions? Does this person or group have opposition, and if so, from whom? 2.Dig deeper by selecting a nonfiction book, longer journalistic piece, or a full-length documentary film to learn more about a person, group, or movement. Then, write a report or create a presentation on what they learned. 3 © 2020 Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors. All Rights Reserved..
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